Toyota, Honda dominate U.S. fuel economy ratings
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy released Tuesday the 2007 edition of the government's Fuel Economy Guide, and Toyota and Honda models dominate the top of the rankings, with seven of the top ten fuel economy ratings, led by Toyota's Prius. Ford Motor was the only American automaker to crack the top ten, with three of its Ford and Mercury hybrids.Here are the ten best, in order:
1. Toyota Prius
2. Honda Civic Hybrid
3. Toyota Camry Hybrid
4. Ford Escape Hybrid FWD
5. Toyota Yaris (manual)
6. Toyota Yaris (automatic)
7. Honda Fit (manual)
8. Toyota Corolla (manual)
9. Hyundai Accent (manual) tied with the Kia Rio (manual)
10. Ford Escape Hybrid 4WD tied with the Mercury Mariner Hybrid 4WD
While the gas-sipping Prius topped the list with EPA economy numbers of 60 mpg city and 51 mpg highway, the much less expensive gas-only Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit turned in very impressive numbers (34/40 and 33/38, respectively for the manual transmission versions).
Perhaps the most entertaining aspect of the report is the seeing the EPA categorize the Aston Martin DB9 as a "minicompact," the Bentley Azure as a "subcompact," and the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti as a "midsize" car. (All three posted worst-in-class numbers, by the way.)
Lots more info at the government's fuel economy website, here.
[Source: EPA]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim UF 4:12PM (10/17/2006)
the classifications are based on interior volume then?
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Michael Bakshi 8:32PM (10/17/2006)
Where is the Honda Accord hybrid and regular Honda Civic?
I'm sure they possess adequate or even better EPA ratings?
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Dr. Woo 5:06PM (10/17/2006)
Some of the most inept bureaucrats in existence. Their categorizations for the expensive models just lends further proof to that. Sounds to me like they just wanted to demonize those cars by making all of them "worst in class."
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porker 4:16PM (10/17/2006)
But how many of these actually get anywhere close to the EPA numbers? Here in the hills, we don't get anywhere near the highway numbers from most cars. Bigger-engine cars usually get closer to their rated numbers, probably because of the greater torque. The so-called hybrids don't fare very well, either. Most owners report much less than advertised, and are usually close to the gasoline counterparts.
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land bruiser 4:21PM (10/17/2006)
where's the land cruiser, tundra, sequoia, expedition, pilot, mdx...
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Kowell 8:47AM (10/18/2006)
no big surprise there.....
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Fabulo 4:32PM (10/17/2006)
These numbers represent the mileage obtained from test in a controled environment. These tests are performed in a consistent manner as to be able to compare mileage across models/categories of vehicles. Different factors affect mileage such as traffic, weather, driving habits. YOUR MILEAGE WILL VARY.
EPA tests are made so mileage are comparable between cars. So the same driver, in the same condition will know that a 13 mpg sequoia will probably be less efficient than a 39 mpg yaris.
It's a baseline. It's not a definitive answer nor an absolute measurement. Get over it.
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Leo 12:36PM (10/18/2006)
#4
you nailed it, never trust them, but you can always use them for comparison purposes
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Miyoshi 4:41PM (10/17/2006)
#2, If you want real-world fuel consumption numbers from hybrids, look at greenhybrid.com's database:
http://www.greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/
Real world mileage logs for the following hybrids: Accord, Civic I, Civic II, Escape, Highlander, Insight, Mariner, Prius I, Prius II, and RX400H, provided by the drivers themselves.
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btwitty 5:03PM (10/17/2006)
Diesel. Sad to not see VW with all those diesels in the top ten. See you next year guys.
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Saracen 5:05PM (10/18/2006)
This list will be dominated by diesels next year.
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Michael Karesh 6:06PM (10/17/2006)
As the first commenter guessed, these classification are, and have always been, based on interior volume. Intent to demonize has nothing to do with it.
To me the amazing thing about the numbers for the Fit and Yaris is that they aren't much higher than those earned by the larger and much more powerful Civic and Corolla.
I recently started collecting real-world fuel economy information at my site:
http://www.truedelta.com/fuel_economy.php
This is a bit more detailed that the typical fuel economy survey, so it'll be possible to factor in driving style, terrain, and other important variables. Nothing to report just yet, but hopefully soon.
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Corey W. 6:31PM (10/17/2006)
You know what..... here's the important question, if you had a chance to own one car, free of charge, which would you pick:
A) Aston Martin DB9
B) Bentley Azure
C) Ferrari 612 Scaglietti
D) Any one of those best in EPA class cars listed above.
Just trying to KEEP IT REAL!!!
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Rod 8:58PM (10/17/2006)
Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Doesn't the electricity used by these cars come from burning coal for a good portion?
What exactly is the point of electric cars when the extraction of energy, whether it's done by power plants or vehicles comes from some form of fossil?
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dave 11:38PM (10/17/2006)
I'm still getting 50 - 55 mpg in my Golf diesel...
Oh, and to respond to post 12 about electric cars...
The point is that producing the power centrally is more efficient, more easily improved and improves the air quality in heavily trafficked areas.
Electricity can be produced via many means centrally - hydro, methane, nukular, wind, solar, etc...
For example, I think the Tesla folks claim something like 50 cents/gal in equivalent energy costs for producing electricity centrally (not to mention that they'll also provide solar panels for your house as an option)
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cmonkey 1:22AM (10/18/2006)
#12. There are no plug in hybrids available for sale in the U.S. yet. The electric motors are run off of battery packs which are charged by using the motor as a generator during braking.
Regardless, #13 is right. Your average coal power plant is cleaner and more efficient per watt of power than a small internal combustion engine. Plus, a decent percent of the nations power is generated though natural gas, hydroelectric turbines, nuclear reactor, wind farms, etc.
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Jon 12:48AM (11/15/2006)
#11: Good question, but yes, you're wrong.
The electricity comes from:
1) The gasoline engine (idling, coasting, etc.)
2) Regenerative breaking.
If we were talking plug-ins, you'd have a point, and a good one. Even then though, it's easier and more cost-efficient to control pollution from a single source than a thousand sources.
But current hybrids get most of their efficiency by: being efficient. They store otherwise wasted energy in the battery, and re-use it.
Jon
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L 9:31AM (2/10/2007)
I own a Honda Fit. I haven't experienced more than 19 miles per gallon. Estimates listed as 31 city/ 37 hgwy. That is driving on the highway, driving with and without using heat or air, and driving constant, not speeding, speeding and no hills anywhere. The Honda techs said I needed to break the engine in and it would get better at 3000miles. I am at 6000 and it hasn't gotten any better! Anyone else experience something like this?
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